LJ played well, made some good pass blocks and made several good receptions and finished his runs very well, but the fumbling needs to stop.

The playcall was again, a bit...EH...but you can't fault it, Huard doesn't have good pocket awareness, in fact, he has terrible pocket awareness, and a drop back pass with no field to work with spelled doom in that situation.

3rd and 2 call to Bennett in the 3rd quarter was terrible, but all and all, the gameplan was terriffic.

Defense played outstanding. They did everything they needed to and more. DJ played outstanding, Paige played well, Wesley played his best game as a pro, Walls looked like a shutdown CB, Bell even made a play, Allen swatted several balls...it was impressive. We'll beat San Fran week 4, get Green back week 5, and win the West if our defense continues to play like they did today. I'm not kidding.

Sampson was a major improvement to Black, though, in all fairness, Huard never held the ball longer than 2 seconds...so we didn't really get to see his pass protection skills. Turley is a stick.

Bennett was a great spell back. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a few more carries, preferably on 2nd downs only, and maybe an occasional 1st down.

And guys, let's face it, the gameplan was perfect today. PERFECT. We need to give Herm a chance, he's obviously turning the defense around, and I know we had clock management issues, in both halves, but he had a marvelous gameplan.

The only way we were winning that game was the way we played it, unfortunately Dee Brown was called for a tacky penalty, and Huard and LJ committed costly turnovers when we were in scoring range.

chief2000

09-17-2006, 06:19 PM

Play Croyle.

|Zach|

09-17-2006, 06:20 PM

Play Croyle.
Tell us about how Derrick Johnson isn't that good of a player...

Hootie

09-17-2006, 06:21 PM

Play Croyle.
I forgot to mention, this thread was for people who watched the game only...so, yeah.

MichaelH

09-17-2006, 06:22 PM

:clap: I agree. I guess the reason for all the criticism is the years of yearning for a playoff win and and SuperBowl appearance. Even though the head coach changed in the offseason, the thought of rebuilding never entered anyone's mind.

siberian khatru

09-17-2006, 06:26 PM

I thought Herm and Co. did a fabulous job preparing the team during the week. I think some of the in-game decisions undermined that. The game-planning put them in position to win. Then it seemed Herm was afraid to take a couple of shots to win it -- preferred to sit back and let the game come to him.

But as I've said on another thread, and others have said elsewhere, the turnovers -- particularly the LJ fumble -- were the biggest blows. LJ holds on to the ball, I think we win that game despite the other flaws. With the current personnel we have, red-zone turnovers waste such precious opportunities. We're just not gonna get to the 5 too many times.

bishop_74

09-17-2006, 06:26 PM

Yup. We have lot's of potential and Herm won't be as conservative once the O-Line solidifies and Green comes back.

Hootie

09-17-2006, 06:29 PM

I thought Herm and Co. did a fabulous job preparing the team during the week. I think some of the in-game decisions undermined that. The game-planning put them in position to win. Then it seemed Herm was afraid to take a couple of shots to win it -- preferred to sit back and let the game come to him.

But as I've said on another thread, and others have said elsewhere, the turnovers -- particularly the LJ fumble -- were the biggest blows. LJ holds on to the ball, I think we win that game despite the other flaws. With the current personnel we have, red-zone turnovers waste such precious opportunities. We're just not gonna get to the 5 too many times.
Excellent post, I agree with most of it.

The LJ fumble was costly, but the helmet jarred the ball out of there, any back makes that fumble. I know though, he needs to work on it...he had a very nice pass block, so he will improve, he's a great player.

HOWEVER, I think the Huard fumble was more costly...the Chiefs were up 6-0 and driving, and had all of the momentum, and were in scoring range, in the THIRD quarter, not the first like LJ's fumble.

chief2000

09-17-2006, 06:30 PM

Tell us about how Derrick Johnson isn't that good of a player...

I'd take D-tackle over a linebacker. You can find linebackers everywhere in the draft.

Hootie

09-17-2006, 06:31 PM

I'd take D-tackle over a linebacker. You can find linebackers everywhere in the draft.
Your insight is about as useful as chlamydia.

siberian khatru

09-17-2006, 06:32 PM

HOWEVER, I think the Huard fumble was more costly...the Chiefs were up 6-0 and driving, and had all of the momentum, and were in scoring range, in the THIRD quarter, not the first like LJ's fumble.

Difference is, I think there's a 99% chance we get points if LJ doesn't fumble. I don't know what would've happened if Huard had just knocked the ball down. Maybe we'd stall with a penalty or sack and face a long FG attempt.

That LJ fumble cost us our 9th point.

Hootie

09-17-2006, 06:39 PM

Difference is, I think there's a 99% chance we get points if LJ doesn't fumble. I don't know what would've happened if Huard had just knocked the ball down. Maybe we'd stall with a penalty or sack and face a long FG attempt.

That LJ fumble cost us our 9th point.
You can't really say that, though. If we make that first field goal, you never know what happens down the line. You know what I mean?

We lost the turnover battle, that's why we lost the game, so yes, the LJ fumble was very critical.

However, we had ALL of the momentum, we were moving the ball UP AND DOWN the field, we were in field goal range, and the Huard fumble led to their first points, and also gave them the momentum. After that, we played not to lose when we were tied, which was Herm's only flaw, IMO. However, Huard played fantastic, guy did everything and more than any of us expected, but he has no pocket awareness, Herm knows that, Shea knows that, Solari knows that...there was obviously a reason he never held the ball for more than 2 seconds...he had Parker wide open in the middle of the field when we were trying to win the game and he didn't even look...he was already trying to dump the ball to LJ.

Deberg_1990

09-17-2006, 06:41 PM

LJ is a hell of a runner, but has never had the best ball handling skillz. Even in college he was plagued by it. He actually had 2 fumbles today. The other one was on the busted reverse play when he mishandled the handoff from Huard.

chief52

09-17-2006, 06:44 PM

I'd take D-tackle over a linebacker. You can find linebackers everywhere in the draft.

Oh really....

Hootie

09-17-2006, 06:45 PM

LJ is a hell of a runner, but has never had the best ball handling skillz. Even in college he was plagued by it. He actually had 2 fumbles today. The other one was on the busted reverse play when he mishandled the handoff from Huard.
That was more on Huard IMO.

LJ is an underrated receiver out of the backfield, that's for sure.

LJ never fumbled in 2004, BTW.

LJ is harder on himself than any of us, so I'm sure he'll fix this problem.